this is bbc news. i'm annita mcveigh. the headlines. australia welcomes in the new year in style with a spectacular of fireworks over the sydney harbour bridge. security is stepped up in major cities around the world and here in the uk for new year crowds and celebrations after the deadly lorry attacks in germany and france. there'll be police officers, stewards, there will be a search regime in place and people need to give extra time on the day so they can come and have a safe and enjoyable event. hundreds are honoured in the queen's new year's honours list including many of britian‘s olympic and paralympic stars — including mo farah, lee pearson and andy murray. i feel still like andy murray, feels normal to me, but it's obviously a big honour and happy with that. nice way to finish or start the new year.

at least 28 people are killed in two bomb explosions at a busy market in baghdad. the so—called islamic state group say two of its militants were responsible. 40% of councils in england have no procedures in place to prosecute people who misuse disabled parking permits. and i will look back at a momentous yearin and i will look back at a momentous year in science. one that saw tim peake return to earth after a six month—stay in space, that's review 2016, the year in science. good afternoon and welcome to bbc news. spectacular fireworks have illuminated sydney and auckland to celebrate the arrival of 2017, as celebrations continue around the globe.

this was the scene in sydney harbour just over an hour ago. officials there say it's the city's biggest ever fireworks display. 1.5 million people are estimated to have been celebrating by the opera house on the harbour front. the display paid tribute to some of the music legends who died in 2016, as purple fireworks — in honour of the late pop artist prince — rained down from the harbour bridge. earlier, auckland in new zealand was the first major city to welcome the new year. fireworks erupted from the 300 metre tall sky tower in the city centre. security has been stepped up in major cities as the world marks

the beginning of 2017. concrete barriers are blocking off central squares in paris, madrid and new york to prevent truck attacks like the recent ones in berlin and nice. in cities including london thousands of extra police are being deployed ahead of new year celebrations. richard lister reports. the metropolitan police says there's no specific intelligence about an attack in london but it has been looking at the tragic events in berlin and nice and has adjusted plans for new year's eve accordingly. some 3,000 officers will be on the streets of the capital as part of a package of measures to maintain security. we spent a long time carefully planning this operation with our partners, they include the mayor's office, westminster city council and many others to make sure people can come to central london on new years and have a fantastic time. when they come to give us extra time, there will be a search regime in place. something like 3,000 police officers

on duty in central london alone, there will be stewards, as well. the police federation says there will also be more armed officers on patrol in london this year than in previous years and more areas where vehicles will be banned. greater manchester police and other forces say they've also stepped up crowd protection measures in the wake of the berlin attack. germany's chancellor angela merkel says islamist terrorism is the biggest threat facing her country. in a new year message, she refers to the truck attack on a christmas market in berlin in which twelve people died. translation: the biggest test, without a doubt, is islamist terrorism, which has had germany in its sights for many years. in 2016, its sights for many years. in 2016, it attacked us and a few days ago at the christmas market here in berlin. and yes, yes, it is especially

bitter and repugnant if terror attacks are carried out by people who are allegedly looking for protection in our country. we are free, caring, open. bearing in mind the pictures of a heavily bombed aleppo we want to reiterate how important and correct it was that our country in the last year helped those who genuinely required oui’ helped those who genuinely required our protection to find a foothold here and to integrate. the no more details from berlin. she talks about the three terror attacks germany suffered over 2016, all three of which were connected to people pretending to be refugees or asylu m people pretending to be refugees or asylum seekers. now she said it was particularly shocking and repulsive was the word she used, that this was — that these attacks were committed by people who had come to germany looking for help. i thought what was particularly interesting about her speech is that she actually stands

by her policy on refugees, she said when you look at the pictures of bombings in aleppo, that shows it's particularly important to show compassion and she said that the only way to fight terror is with compassion and she was adamant she's going to stick by what she sees as european values of openness and freedom and tolerance. it's quite interesting in that regard, didn't show any sort of step back from her policy on migration and she was also very strong in really standing up to what many people see as populism, she called on european unity and said germany should lead the way in keeping europe together and this was a real nod to this anti—migrant, new anti—migrant party, afd which has arisen the last few years and merkel is facing re—election in september. what that indicated was that she's really standing her ground and not catering to populism but rather has decided she's going to stand up against it.

barack obama against it. ba rack obama has against it. barack obama has given his new year message. he took the opportunity to talk about his legacy as us president. we have made extraordinary progress as a country these past eight years and here's these past eight years and here's the thing, none of it was inevitable. it was the result of tough choices we made and the result of your hard work and resilience. to keep america moving forward is a task that falls to all of us. sustaining and building on all we have achieved from helping more young people afford higher education, to ending discrimination based on preexisting conditions, to tightening rules on wall street, to protecting this planet for our kids, that's going to take all of us working together. because that's always been our story. the story of ordinary people coming together in the hard, slow, sometimes frustrating, but always vital work of self—government. it has been the privilege of my life to serve as your president and as i prepare to

ta ke your president and as i prepare to take on the even more important role of citizen, know that i will be there with you every step of the way to ensure that this country forever strives to live up to the incredible promise of our founding, that all of us are promise of our founding, that all of us are created equal, and all of us deserve every chance to live out our dreams. from the obama family to yours, have a happy and blessed 2017. the queen has used the new year's honours list to recognise the success of more than 100 of britain's olympians and paralympians. there are knighthoods for andy murray and mo farrah, while jessica ennis—hill is made a dame. andy swiss has the details. at the end of a glittering yearfor british sport, for five of its greatest stars — the greatest honours. first, a knighthood for the man who spent 2016 scaling commentator: wimbledon champion again — supreme performance! after winning a second wimbledon,

a second olympics and the world number one spot, it's now sir andy murray. a fitting finish to a remarkable season. i feel more still like andy murray. it feels obviously more normal to me. but it's obviously a big honour. i'm happy with that, it's a nice way to finish, or start, the new year. there's also a new title for mo fa rah‘s collection. commentator: gold for great britain again! the double—double. he described his knighthood as a dream come true. having come to britain as an eight—year—old from somalia, he added, he could never have imagined it. another athletic star, meanwhile, becomes a dame. london 2012 heptathlon champion jessica ennis—hill, who retired this year. there was also a damehood for rower katherine grainger. after five medals at five consecutive olympics, the perfect ending to her career. and there's a knighthood for one

of britain's top paralympians. dressage rider lee pearson won his 11th gold medal in rio. among the other honours, two sporting couples. cbes for cyclists jason and laura kenny, while hockey gold medallists kate and helen richardson—walsh become an obe and mbe respectively. and after their impressive run at euro 2016, wales football manager chris coleman becomes an obe, and his northern ireland counterpart, michael o'neill, an mbe. just a few of more than 100 sporting figures honoured for a memorable 12 months. there were also some notable names honoured from the worlds of arts and entertainment. among them there's a knighthhood for the knotty ash funnyman ken dodd — as our entertainment correspondent, lizo mzimba, reports. i'm full of plumshushness. he's been one of britain's favourite entertainers for more than half a century.

now ken dodd has received a knighthood. i said to the fellow, excuse me, can you help me out? yes, which way did you come in. you don't get bigger than this. i've played a lot of big theatres. but this is it, this is "the" day. i'm very, very proud. the bucket residence, the lady of the house speaking. actress patricia routledge, she's been made a dame. kinks frontman ray davis said he felt humility and joy to become sir ray. a knighthood too for award—winning actor mark rylance. bond actress naomi harris becomes an obe. figures from fashion and design have also been recognised. american vogue editor anna wintour said she was touched to be made a dame. victoria beckham becomes an obe for services to the fashion industry. the hillsborough independent panel

was chaired by the former bishop of liverpool, jamesjones. he's now been knighted. obviously, great pride, but mixed with sadness because of that enduring sadness of the families, who have continued to feel the loss of their loved ones at hillsborough. he's one of hundreds being recognised for their contribution across the uk. lizo mzimba, bbc news. at least 25 people have been killed and more than 50 injured after two bomb attacks at a busy market in central baghdad. a roadside bomb exploded near a shop, then a suicide bomber detonated his device among the crowd that had gathered. so—called islamic state says it was behind the attacks. jonny dymond reports. a packed market — shoppers and traders hemmed in. two bombs. one in a car parts shop,

then another when a crowd had formed around the first. both suicide bombers. they took more than two dozen with them. fathers, and sisters, and mothers, and brothers. translation: when we heard the explosion, we found many people killed and wounded who we rescued and sent to the hospital. why does this happen in iraq? why to the iraqi people? to the north, the fight to take mosul, iraq's second city, from so—called is, continues. it is a long slog. and for many residents the only way is out. three more months, iraq's government says, the action might take. maybe next year will be better. but many iraqis are giving up, as they flee their battered city with nothing but bags and suitcases. with me now is issam ikirmawi from bbc arabic. baghdad has been on a state of high

alert since the offensive against is in the north of the country in mosul, yet this attack has still happened after a relative lull. that's correct. it is designed to show that is is still very much capable of launching such deadly attacks, in other parts of the country some people believe it had received a setback in mosul, that government forceses have been able to ta ke government forceses have been able to take some of the territories controlled by isis, this attack shows they're still controlled by isis, this attack shows they‘ re still capable controlled by isis, this attack shows they're still capable of launching attacks in other parts, so if they're cornered somewhere, like what happened in syria, when people thought they had been cornered in the north of the country, they

managed to retake palyara. so propaganda important to them, but does this serve much purpose if they kill people, ordinary people in a marketplace, one thing is dealing with the iraqi army in mosul, this is something else entirely. yes, they've been launching these attacks since 2014 or even before that, if you look at the invasion 2003 but there have been intensification of attacks since 2014. in the last few weeks or months it's been relatively quieter than usual, but it looks like they're under attack again. quieter than usual, but it looks like they're under attack againm there much more that the iraqi security forces can do to try to cou ntera ct security forces can do to try to counteract this type of attack? it's very difficult for the security forces. baghdad is full of checkpoints. everywhere you go there are checkpoints. there are measures in place however t would be extremely difficult to stop every single attack. thank you very much.

the un security council will meet later to consider a russian resolution endorsing the ceasefire agreement in syria. the draft text calls for access for humanitarian aid convoys and expresses support for a political process to end the conflict. rebel groups have accused the syrian government of repeated violations of the ceasefire. here, air passengers are being warned of continuing disruption with flights because of earlier fog. heathrow, gatwick and london city airports have all warned passengers to check with their airlines before travelling. our correspondent angus crawford reports from heathrow airport. this really has been a question of the morning after the fog the night before, so yesterday we know that something like 200 flights were cancelled across the uk, that affected about 30,000 people. it also meant that air crew and aircraft were in the wrong places when it came to departures and

arrivals today, so even though the fog has lifted, earlier this morning you couldn't even see the control tower, although it's lifted there is still disruption. here at heathrow we think about 50 flights have been cancelled in and out of the airport. london city airport had considerable delays this morning, real problems there. at gatwick there are 40—60—minute delays on some departures. so the advice is simple, if you are attempting to travel today, do consult your airline before you set off from home. the headlines: australia welcomes in the new year in style with a spectacular display of fireworks over the sydney harbour bridge. security is stepped up in major cities around the world and here in the uk for new year crowds and celebrations after the deadly lorry attacks in germany and france. more than 100 stars of the olympics and paralympics are recognised in

the new year's honours list. the first minister of scotland has used her new year's message to insist she is determined to respect scotland's vote to remain within the european union. nicola sturgeon said it was her top priority to ensure scotland retained as many of the benefits of eu membership as possible, including the freedom to work, travel and study in other member states. we are also working to safeguard the opportunities that so many people in scotla nd opportunities that so many people in scotland now take for granted. we are determined that scotland's vote to remain in the european union will be respected and that people in scotla nd be respected and that people in scotland can retain as many of the benefits of eu membership as possible, including the freedom to work, travel and study in other european countries. new year is inevitably a time when we look to the future. i am determined to ensure that we give our children and

oui’ ensure that we give our children and our young people scotland's future, the support and care they need to live happy, healthy, fulfilling lives. and i am confident that in 2017 we will make further progress towards that goal. a new strike by workers on southern railway is causing disruption to rail services. members of the rmt union started a three—day walkout this morning in a long—running dispute about the role of conductors. an ongoing ban on overtime by drivers in the aslef union is adding to the disruption. 40% of councils in england have no procedures in place to prosecute people who misuse disabled parking permits. new analysis of official figures found that in 61 local authorities blue badges could be used fraudulently without fear of being fined. the finding been described as staggering by a disability charity. leanne brown reports. you're taking the badge off me? offices in oxfordshire checked hundreds of blue badges during a three—day operation over the festive season. many were confiscated because they were not

being used by the owner. it is something that we need to enforce. we need to make sure that people are using their badges correctly so that people can get to the shops who need to get to the shops and are disabled. fines of up to £1,000 could be given to those who abuse the system but the department of transport says 61 out of 152 local authorities don't have a policy when it comes to prosecution. where legal action was taken, almost all involved were using someone else's blue badge. disability charity scope has called the figures staggering and says more needs to be done to tackle the fraud. a spokesman representing local authorities say they do take it seriously and are working hard to combat blue badge misuse. from midnight tonight, anyone who owns an air gun

in scotland will need a licence. the legislation was introduced after a toddler was killed by an air gun pellet in glasgow in 2005. people in england and wales can own the weapons without any kind of documentation. craig anderson reports. these are the guns that by january 1st will be illegal unless their owners have a licence. already 11,000 people have applied for an air gun certificate and anyone with a gun licence already can add air weapons to that. but thousands of air gun owners have missed the deadline of october 31 anyone who applied for a certificate before october 31 is ok because they applied early. unfortunately, those who applied after that will have to wait sometime before it is processed. they will have to make alternative arrangements for the safe storage of their airguns. registered gun dealers like this one in inverness are providing a safe house for air weapons whose

owners want to keep them but won't be licensed by sunday morning. many of those in the gun trade think the clamp—down is using a sledgehammer to crack a nut. shooting people at high rise flats is illegal. you're not allowed to do that, you never were. this legislation is a piece of tokenism which will achieve nothing. the people who will misuse air rifles are not the type of people who are going to go to the trouble of licensing their weapons anyway. but backers of the new laws say air weapons are involved in half of all gun crime in scotland and with an estimated 500,000 of them in scotland, tightening the legislation is justified. thousands of airguns have already been handed in to police to be destroyed. craig anderson, bbc news, inverness. police in brazil have accused the greek ambassador‘s wife of colluding with her lover in the murder of her husband, kyriakos amiridis. a police investigator said francoise amiridis had admitted having an affair with a policeman who she blamed for the killing.

catriona renton reports. the greek ambassador's wife, francoise amiridis, arriving at a police station in rio de janeiro. her husband, kyriakos amiridis, had been missing since monday. his body was found in the boot of a burnt—out car on the outskirts of rio on thursday. his wife told police he left in his rented car and did not tell her where he was going. it's been claimed that mrs amiridis was having an affair with a policeman. he has now confessed to killing her husband. it is understood he told detectives she told him to do it. investigators say the two had been planning this for days. mrs amiridis admitted to the affair, but denies ordering the murder. a cousin of the policeman has been accused of taking part in the crime and moving the body. investigations have been carried out at a house in the north of rio where mr amiridis and his family were thought to have been staying.

he had apparently travelled from brasilia to spend christmas with his wife and her parents. it's thought this is where he was fatally wounded. the president of brazil has written to the greek prime minister expressing his profound sadness and condolences to the family of ambassador amiridis and the greek people. the man, credited with discovering the beatles has died at the age of 86. allan williams was the owner of a liverpool music club and arranged the band's first performances in the early ‘60s, but he and the band parted company before they became an international success. his memoir was called "the man who gave the beatles away". let's get more now on the queen's new year's honours. among those awarded an obe is the double oscar—winning costume designerjenny beavan. she told our entertainment correspondent lizo mzimba how surprised she was to receive the award. we do the work for the joy of the

work, hopefully, orwhatever. and the whole thing of whether it might be recognised is farfrom — we the whole thing of whether it might be recognised is far from — we don't even know if it will be a good film, sometimes i have worked on films you think can't fail. they have all the ingredients and when you see them they are just sort of... then you work on something that's fine and, you know, people are giving performances, they put it together and it goes into another orbit. so i just do the work to the best of my ability and see what happens. you have reached the pinnacle of your career, multiaward—winner, including two oscars. how does this compare to those? i am not entirely sure it's quite sunk in yet, so mi dar i am not sure, whether it has an impact, whether it is a nice bit of recognition. there are a few people from the world of fashion and design that have been recognised in this new year's honours list, what do you think it means to that section of

the industry, this area of creativity? well, in my own world, i suddenly realised after all the shenanigans, the power of clothes and how you could create such an extraordinary effect by what you wear and extraordinary effect by what you wearandi extraordinary effect by what you wear and i know when i extraordinary effect by what you wearand i know when i am extraordinary effect by what you wear and i know when i am designing costu mes wear and i know when i am designing costu m es it wear and i know when i am designing costumes it is all about story—stelling. it is all it is, it's story—telling and i do it with clothes with actors and i am guessing with fashion again it's story—telling and it's quite powerful and political what people actually wear. so, i guess it's quite good and i think the world of art, the arts is teshably important asa art, the arts is teshably important as a back—up to this other world we live in and gives people a release, a creative outputt live in and gives people a release, a creative output t can heal minds, even drawing, playing music, listening to music, so i think the a rts listening to music, so i think the arts arts are phenomenally important and should be honoured in education,

as well, not that people necessarily ta ke as well, not that people necessarily take it up as a career but it's such a brilliant outlet for emotion and for stress. let's check out what the weather is up let's check out what the weather is up to as we head to new year's eve. there is some rain in the forecast spreading in from northern areas, this will be moving south across the country this evening and into the first part of the night. i think it should generally clear most of scotla nd should generally clear most of scotland and northern ireland by the time we reach the bells. it pushes into northern england and clears northern ireland. leaves some showers. it will be quite cold because of that wind that will pick up because of that wind that will pick up in strength. across the south it's a different story here. looks like we will see some of the cloud thickening again this evening and overnight, the odd spot of drizzle. hopefully that shouldn't affect firework displays but the cloud could below in places and across northern england and north wales

that rain will be pushing south. a contrast in temperatures. across the north it will be cold. a cold start to new year's day across northern areas but here plenty of sunshine. wintry showers with snow on the hill. across southern parts of the country here it will be grey and wet with heavy rain at times. into monday all of us will have that cold, crisp weather. hello. this is bbc news. the headlines: it's new year down under. sydney welcomes in 2017 in style with a spectacular firework display. as the world marks the start of the new year, security has been stepped up in major cities. in london, thousands of extra police are being deployed ahead of the celebrations. the queen's new year's honours list is dominated by britian‘s olympic and paralympic stars, including andy murray, mo farah and lee pearson.

i feel more still like andy murray, feels obviously more normal to me, but obviously it's a big honour. happy with that, nice way to finish or start the new year. at least 28 people have been killed by two explosions at a crowded market in baghdad. the so—called islamic state group in iraq said it carried out the attack. rebecca morelle looks back on the year in science — from british astronaut tim peake's adventures in space, to a discovery that will transform our understanding of the universe. that's review 2016: the year in science. from the mission of a lifetime, this was the year british astronaut tim peake spent six months in space.

to a colossal feat of engineering.